Dungeness A hands over former fire appliance to local museum

A local museum has taken receipt of a fire appliance formerly used at Dungeness A Site in Kent.

The appliance was constructed at the HCB-Angus factory in Totton, near Southampton, and had been stationed at Dungeness A Site since 1989. It has now been donated to the Dover Transport Musuem, which houses one of the largest collections of historic and vintage vehicles in the South East of England.

At Dungeness A Site, the vehicle was used by shift teams during power generation operations in the event of a fire or other site incident, as well as being routinely used for first aid training and fire training exercises with fire brigades from across the UK.

Latterly the appliance played a key role in the demolition of the site’s Turbine Hall, which was completed in June 2015. Contractors carrying out the demolition used the vehicle to damp down dust to minimise the environmental impact of the demolition. With the support of local emergency services, Dungeness A Site retains full capability to respond to any fires or other emergency incidents.

After being collected from the site in April this year, the Dover Transport Museum has been working to restore the engine to its original condition.

Ian Cuthbert, Dungeness A Site Deputy Closure Director said: “Wherever possible, Magnox looks to ensure that if our existing assets are no longer required by a particular site, they can be reused either at other Magnox sites or elsewhere. Many of our employees have fond memories of this fire appliance so we are delighted that we have been able to give it a new home at the Dover Transport Museum.”

Brian Flood, Vice Chairman and Collections Manager at the Dover Transport Museum, added: “We are very grateful to Magnox for allowing us to take on the management of this fire appliance. Our team of volunteers is really enjoying restoring it and it will make a great addition to our collection.”

Magnox Limited is owned and operated by Cavendish Fluor Partnership Limited on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.